The Test Of Time
by Istillwishiwasaweasley
Summary: Molly and Arthur seem like the perfect couple. But with the strain of 7 kids, money and war will they make it through the rain? Please R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Baby blues- Arthur

Arthur sat in the sitting room at the Burrow, marvelling at his wife. Molly is heavily pregnant with their 6th child, and Arthur wondered if he'd ever seen her happier than when she was expecting. She practically glowed with happiness. He placed his newspaper down and watched as she waddled in after putting the children to bed.

Molly collapsed heavily down onto the sofa to join Arthur. It was these times that he loved the most, times where they could just be together. Unfortunately, the ongoing war meant that they didn't get to spend as much time alone as he would like. He had so much on at work; the whole of the Ministry is frantic, no closer to stopping Voldemort. He was also trying desperately to make a good impression, he needed to get a promotion soon, Merlin knows they could do with the money, with their rapidly growing family.

As if Molly had been listening to her husband's thoughts, she suddenly looked over at him, worried. "Do you think we'll be OK?"

He knew exactly what she meant. They had been having this conversation for months it seemed. The honest answer was no. He didn't think they were doing the right thing, he didn't think they could support yet another child especially in these troubled times. But he would do anything to make Molly happy. He put an arm around her shoulders and let her head fall onto his shoulder, as it seemed to do so naturally. He stroked her red hair back from her face.

"Of course we'll be OK, dear. We always are. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to get a promotion soon and we'll have enough money for this little one." He added, stroking his wife's bump.

"You always say that, Arthur. You're still on the same pay that you were on when Bill was born. We're running out of money, I can hardly afford to feed them. And we'll need to start saving for Hogwarts things and they're just so expensive now." She sighed, lines of worry rippling across her forehead.

Arthur hated this. He hated that he couldn't support his wife and family as well as he wanted to. But, he had never counted on such a large family. He had always wanted children, and loved each one of his boys immensely, but things would have been much simpler if they'd stopped after Percy, twins were certainly a shock.

"I know this one is a girl, though." She said, looking up into her husbands face. "I can feel it Arthur, this is our little girl at last, our Ginny."

That was another thing. "Don't get your hopes up, sweetheart." He said.

He was fed up of this conversation too. There hadn't been a girl in the Weasley family since as far back as he could remember, and he hated the fact that his wife might be disappointed. She had chosen the name before Bill was born, Ginerva, Ginny for short, after her grandmother. Of course, Molly loved her boys more than anything, but she so desperately wanted a little girl as well.

"Its not hope. Its mother's intuition." She replied, with a sniff, this was a touchy subject.

"Ok, Ok. I get it." There was no reply to 'mother's intuition.' He picked up his newspaper again, and began to read, which did nothing for his bad mood.

Three days later, Arthur was working late at the ministry. He was literally snowed under a mountain of paperwork. Paper memos kept flying at his head from all directions, one giving him a rather painful paper cut inside his left nostril. He grabbed the offending item and threw it across the room in frustration. He tried to believe that what he was doing was important, but they seemed to have piled on him all the work that everyone else was too busy and important to do at the moment. "For goodness sake," he thought, "there are people out there suffering, people at risk and I'm here trying to work out if Albie Murdoch bewitching haggis to land on English tourists is a sign of a Scottish branch of death eater activity!"

It was not until hours later, that his annoying colleague from a much superior office downstairs, came in, that Arthur realised anything was wrong. "What on earth are you still doing here?" He asked him in surprise.

Arthur looked at the huge piles of paper work, it was pretty obvious why he was still here, maybe Geoff had gone mad from all the pressure.

"I sent you a memo, hours ago! Why haven't you gone to the hospital?" Geoff questioned.

" Hospital?" He looked up from his report. "Molly! Is she alright? Oh no, don't tell me she's giving birth?"

"_Giving _birth?" Geoff laughed. "She's nearly done it, mate. She just sent yet another message from St.Mungo's telling you that if you don't get here within the next nanosecond she's going to hex you so bad, you won't have the equipment to father any more children. Not that she'll let you, mind."

Arthur did not see the funny side. He jumped up, sending a pile of papers cascading to the floor, ran past the still chuckling Geoff and rushed to the atrium to apparate to St.Mungo's.

By the time he got there, and had found Molly, it was too late. She lay asleep in a crisp white bed, her hair plastered to her forehead, a cot beside her. Arthur sneaked into the room and peered into the cot. There, bearing the characteristic shock of Weasley hair, was a perfect child. Arthur peered at the tiny wrist band, which bore the words: _'Baby Boy- 7lbs'_

He wasn't surprised. He looked up, and saw that Molly was awake and watching him. He began to explain his lateness, but she cut across him. "I still love him," She said, a fat tear rolling down her cheek. He rushed over and let her sob into his chest, with exhaustion, disappointment and guilt. At that moment, he hated himself, he felt like he had let her down so badly and wished more than anything in the world that he could make it all better. When he married Molly he had made a vow to himself to never let her cry, if he could help it. It broke his heart as he realised there was nothing he could do now.

_A/N: Hi, I'm Lorna (miss.mermaid-of the lake) and I'll be writing the Arthur side of this story. I'll update every Monday, with the Molly chapter by iwishiwasaweasley following on Thursdays. Hope you like it! Please Review. xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Baby blues-Molly

Molly gently stroked George's hair before turning to Fred. She looked down at their angelic faces; it was hard to imagine what a mischievous pair they were in their waking hours. She waved her wand snubbing the night candle and waddled slowly to the door. She took one last look at them before closing it behind them. She padded her way down stairs and went into the living room. She walked over to her husband stroking her bump lovingly, she simply adored being pregnant, all the anticipation was wonderful.

She sat down next to Arthur and leaned against his shoulder, he really was an amazing husband, Molly knew that after the twins were born that it would be hard to convince him to bring another child into the family, it had only taken a few days of silent treatment before he had given in. She knew that he had a valid point, they had little to no money and an extra mouth was on its way.

"Do you think we'll be ok?" she asked looking up at him as he stroked her hair,

"Of course we'll be OK, dear. We always are. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to get a promotion soon and we'll have enough money for this little one," he said quietly patting her increasing bump,

"You always say that, Arthur. You're still on the same pay that you were on when Bill was born. We're running out of money, I can hardly afford to feed them. And we'll need to start saving for Hogwarts things and they're just so expensive now" she sighed trying yet failing to conceal a frown, she knew that it was too late now to be having doubts, but she was now, as she had always been, desperate for a girl.

"I know this one is a girl though, I can feel it Arthur, this is our little girl at last, our Ginny" she looked up into his face.

"Don't get you hopes up, sweetheart," he said to her, Molly sighed, and she knew that there had not been a girl in the Weasley family for several generations, but she was a Prewett as well! Molly had always wanted a girl, although she loved each of her boys dearly, she wanted to have a girl to plait her hair at night, talk about her boyfriends with, and worry about whether she would ever settle down, plan a wedding with her, all the things that her mother had done with her.

"Its not hope" she said firmly "its mothers intuition."

"Ok, ok I get it" replied Arthur in a tired voice, Molly frowned, and she knew that he was under a lot of stress with the war but she wished that he would act like he wanted the baby growing in her stomach. When Molly had found out that she was having twins she was convinced that it would be one girl and one boy, it was only fair. However a few days before they were born Molly's twin brothers Gideon and Fabion were killed by Deatheaters. Molly was devastated, when the twins were born she was relieved that they were both boys, George and Fred, Arthur had allowed her to use the initials. However Molly was now ready for a girl.

A few days later Molly was busy getting a drink for Charlie when her waters broke. She knew she still had time to get to the hospital but she was still very worried. Arthur was at work. She sent a floo call to Lucy Lovegood from the other side of the village and Lucy had consented to watch the children, Molly was very grateful, she didn't have many friends that were willing to look after all her children in one go.

When she arrived at St Mungo's a mediwitch took her to a private room and helped her into the bed.

"Please could you owl my husband?" she asked breathing heavily, the contractions had already started.

"Certainly, what are his details Mrs Weasley?" she asked pulling out a quill and scrap of parchment from her robes.

"Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle artefacts office, Ministry of Magic" she reeled off quickly, the mediwitch nodded and left the room.

Molly was amazed. The labour had lasted less than twenty minutes. After one final agonising push she heard a beautiful cry, it was a girl, she knew it. She opened her eyes and looked down at the Healer.

"Congratulations Molly, you have a beautiful baby boy" the sentence took a few seconds to sink in, a boy, another boy. She smiled weakly at the Healer trying to conceal her bitter disappointment, the Healer looked down at the baby; he had stopped crying, and moving.

"W...What's wrong with him?" Molly gasped looking down at her son, the Healer frown and took the baby to the cot and began to wave his wand over him.

"He's stopped breathing," said the Healer simply. Molly watched as the Healer and mediwitch cast a number of spells at the tiny baby, minutes seem to last a lifetime until she finally heard a little cough. A powerful wave of relief passed over her and she let out a breath that she didn't realise she had been holding. The Healer passed the boy into her waiting arms and she cradled him crying silently. She made a promise to herself, she would protect this one more, he nearly didn't make it.

About an hour passed and Molly was dozing in her bed, she felt rather than heard Arthur enter the room, he walked over to the cot and peered in. She saw him glance at the wristband; he knew it would be a boy.

Arthur looked up at her and began to talk but Molly interrupted him," I still love him" she said failing to hold back the tears, her husband crossed the room and hugged her fiercely.

_A/N Well there you have it Molly's side of the story. Thanks you for the reviews please keep going! Next chapter will be up on Monday!_

_Love you all_

Laura 

_xxx_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Sibling squabble-Arthur

Arthur pushed open the oak door into the kitchen. He had just finished a very tiring day at the Ministry and was looking forward to a quiet evening with his family. However the first sound that greeted him was Ginny his 9 year old daughter singing "The wheels on the knight bus" at the top of her voice, followed by Ron telling her to shut up.

"Children please!" shouted Molly in an exasperated voice, the children silenced immediately, this was to Arthur the first sign that everything was not as it seemed. He pulled of his travelling cloak and walked towards the table,

"Arthur you're home! Thank goodness!" she cried throwing her arms around him, he staggered backwards slightly but hugged her back fiercely, clearly she needed him. She pulled away and wiped a tear on the back of her hand,

"Molly what is it?" he asked taking in her appearance, her face was blotchy and more tears were threatening to fall,

"The twins!" she exclaimed

"Ahh" said Arthur with understanding "What have they done this time?"

"They were caught in the forbidden forest!" she cried sitting down heavily at the kitchen table,

"What were they doing in there?" Arthur asked concerned that his sons had absolutely no regard for their own safety,

"I don't know, Professor Dumbledore didn't say, he said that they have lost 150 points each for Gryffindor and they have detention for the rest of the year! Oh Arthur, what were they thinking!" she dissolved into tears again and Arthur stroked her back in comfort,

"I hope their feeling sorry for themselves then!"

"I bet they are after the howler I sent, but that's not the point Arthur, when are they going to start being responsible! You said it was just a phase but it's just getting worse, all they want to do is course trouble!" she cried getting up to make the dinner

"I don't know Molly, they are just kids I suppose" Molly shot him a look "I'll talk to them when they get home" he added hastily, feeling that a change of subject was required Arthur asked how Ron and Ginny had been,

"Ron's not doing very well at his work, Ginny's further ahead than him he's just not…" she stopped suddenly as Ron walked into the kitchen,

"Hi dad did you have a good day?" he asked as Arthur bent down to kiss him, he dodged it easily,

"Fine thanks Ron, how about you?"

"Fine, Mom what's for dinner?" he asked blushing slightly,

"Meat pie and vegetables but it won't be ready for a while" Ron turned to walk away when Ginny came in,

"Dad when did you get here?" she said leaning up to give him a kiss,

"Just now dear, how are you? Good day?" Arthur replied

"Great I finished all the work this morning, Ron still hasn't finished his maths, he's so stup…"

"SHUT UP GINNY" yelled Ron

"Ron don't shout and don't tell your sister to shut up" yelled Molly,

"But Ginny said…" Ron began

"I don't care what Ginny said Ron; the only raised voice allowed in this house is mine!"

"It's not fair, she gets away with everything!" Ron yelled back before fleeing up to his room, Arthur felt that intervention was necessary as much as he loved Molly he felt that she definitely had a blind spot where Ginny was concerned, the girl could do no harm. After Ron was born Arthur was adamant that they weren't going to have anymore children but during the celebration of Voldemort's downfall they had been so happy, Arthur had been unable to refuse. When Ginny was born he had never seen his wife so happy. Arthur knew that Ginny knew that she had been wanted, this made Ron feel that he was not wanted as much. Out of all his children Arthur knew that Ron was the most insecure.

"Ginny go and apologise to Ron for calling him stupid" Arthur said to Ginny, she scowled,

"But he is stup…"

"No Weasley is stupid Ginny now go and apologise"

"Mom!" Ginny wailed turning towards her mother

"Don't turn to your mother Ginny, go and apologise to Ron now!" Ginny cast a deeply annoyed look his way and went upstairs. Arthur turned to Molly,

"Molly you really shouldn't let her get away with everything"

"I don't" Molly lied swiftly,

"Molly" Arthur said quietly encircling her in his arms,

"Ok maybe I do a bit, but I've just been so upset about the twins and with Bill in Egypt and Charlie adamant that he's going to Romania…"

"I know Molly, its ok" she turned towards him

"I love them all so much Arthur" she said, a tear cascading down her cheeks

"I know Molly, I love them to, but right now it's you I'm worrying about, you have to treat them all the same, Ron's so insecure, so sensitive"

"I know, peel these potatoes and I'll go and talk to him" she said handing him the peeler, he took it off her and kiss her on the nose,

"I love you Molly Weasley" he said quietly

"I love you to Arthur, I'll send Ginny down to help" Molly then left Arthur to a mountain of potatoes; he grabbed the first one and began to peel, thinking as ever about his wonderful family.

A/N OK, change of plan with this story, I'm going to be writing both sides of the story. Sorry for the extremely long delay! Please review!

Love you all

Laura

xxx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 2

Sibling squabbles- Molly

Molly Weasley was not happy. Not happy to say the least.

She had just opened the post had opened yet another letter from Hogwarts about the twins. She slammed the letter down on the table with such a force that Ginny looked up at her from the table and even Ron glanced up from his attack on his breakfast.

"Mom?" Ginny asked quietly

"Oh sorry dears, its your brothers again!"

"Which ones?" Ginny asked even though Molly knew Ginny had a very good idea which ones, Ginny was very smart.

"Fred and George, they went into the forbidden forest, why I ask…"

"Cool" said Ron in awe,

Molly rounded on him quickly,

"It is not cool Ronald, they could have been seriously injured and for what, what I ask you!" Ron recoiled slightly but Molly did not apologise.

"Right both of you get your workbooks while I sent the twins a howler" Ron and Ginny left the kitchen whilst Molly composed her howler, after reading it through several times to make sure that she go the message across she handed it to Errol and sent him on his way.

Ginny sat down at the table, opened her workbook and began straight away without a glance at her mother. Ron on the other hand sauntered into the kitchen with his workbook in his hand and plopped himself heavily on to the bench. He then opened his workbook and looked up at his mother,

"Mom I can't find my quill"

"Oh Ron, that's your second quill this week!" she scolded whilst walking to the cupboard to retrieve another,

"I put it next to my workbook last night, I'm sure of it!"

"Well if it's not there now then you didn't! Here now I want you to finish all of those questions before lunch, both of you!"

Ron took the quill and looked down at the questions, his brow creased in concentration. Ginny was already on the third question and looked a lot more relaxed than her brother.

Molly set about cleaning the kitchen whilst still huffing and puffing about the twins. She had only just finished cleaning the oven when she heard Ron's frustrated sigh and the ferocious scratching of a quill. She ignored it and carried on her cleaning.

Within an hour Ginny had finished all her work and Molly had allowed her to go and play in her room. Ron was still struggling through it and Molly could tell he was very annoyed at Ginny beating him. She tried to help him but he hated the thought of not finishing before Ginny, Molly could tell these things.

At around five Molly let Ron go and play, knowing that if she kept him working any longer he would probably explode with resentment at her.

Molly was now standing at the sink doing the washing up, she could of course do this by magic but when she was upset she liked to have thinking time. She was still so furious at the twins, she had sent them a howler but she doubted it would make them ashamed of their actions in the slightest. She could her Ginny singing at the top of her voice, she really did have a beautiful voice, then she heard Ron yell at her. Molly turned to scold them,

"Children please!" Molly cried, they silenced instantly knowing what kind of mood she was in. She turned back to the sink when she saw Arthur walk in, his eyes were full of concern.

"Arthur you're home! Thank goodness!"

She threw herself upon him and it took all of her inner strength not to break down completely. He hugged her back and she pulled away, taking in her appearance, she had been crying sporadically all day and knew she probably didn't look her best.

"Molly what is it?" he asked wiping away a stray tear,

"The twins" she cried raising her arms in exasperation.

"Ah, what have they done this time?" Arthur asked taking a seat,

"They were caught in the forbidden forest" she said sitting across the table from him, she saw concern flash across his eyes,

"What were they doing in there?" he asked taking off his glasses and wiping them on his robes

"I don't know, Professor Dumbledore didn't say, he said that they have lost 150 points each for Gryffindor and they have detention for the rest of the year! Oh Arthur, what were they thinking!" she cried as tears again began to fall, she felt Arthur get up from the table and walk to her side, stroking her back to comfort her.

They then talked about their day, when Ron and Ginny came in she hastily wiped the tears away and stood up to prepare the dinner,

"…Ron still hasn't finished his maths he's so stup…" she heard Ginny begin

"SHUT UP!" roared Ron, she turned on him so fast she saw that she saw him recoil,

"Ron don't shout and don't tell your sister to shut up" she yelled

"But Ginny said…" Ron began

"I don't care what Ginny said Ron; the only raised voice allowed in this house is mine!"

"It's not fair, she gets away with everything!" he cried before fleeing up the stairs, she heard Arthur scold Ginny before turning to her,

"Molly you really shouldn't let her get away with everything"

"I don't" she lied, knowing full well that she did, she had wanted a daughter for so long and Ginny, she was perfect in Molly's eyes

"Molly" Arthur said quietly encircling her in his arms,

"Ok maybe I do a bit, but I've just been so upset about the twins and with Bill in Egypt and Charlie adamant that he's going to Romania…"

"I know Molly, its ok" she turned towards him

"I love them all so much Arthur" she said, a tear cascading down her cheeks

"I know Molly, I love them to, but right now it's you I'm worrying about, you have to treat them all the same, Ron's so insecure, so sensitive"

"I know, peel these potatoes and I'll go and talk to him" she said handing him the peeler, he took it off her and kiss her on the nose,

"I love you Molly Weasley" he said quietly

"I love you to Arthur; I'll send Ginny down to help" she walked up the stairs and knocked on Ginny's door, she walked in and saw Ginny writing in her diary,

"Ginny go and help your father in the kitchen" she ordered

"But mom, I'm writing" she whined giving Molly her best puppy dog expression, it took all Molly had not to give in,

"You can do that later Ginny" she said before leaving the room, she heard Ginny huff and watched her walk down the stairs.

She walked up to the attic room and knocked on Ron's door,

"Go away" she heard Ron say in a voice that told her he'd been crying,

"Ron please, I want to talk to you!" she begged,

"You let her get away with everything, it's not fair mom, it's not my fault I'm a boy!" Molly sighed and sat on the top step, this wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

A/N Sorry for the delay! Please review!!!

Love you all

Laura

xxx


	5. Chapter 5

The Magic of Christmas- Arthur.

"Have we got everything?"

"Yes."

"Locked the back door"

"Yes."

"Did I feed the chickens?"

Yes, Molly dear."

"And I turned the oven off?"

"Yes, darling."

"Ginny, do you having everything, petal? Arthur, are you sure you don't need another jumper?"

"Yes!!" they chorused.

"Darling, we're going to miss the portkey. Please, stop worrying, it'll be fine. Mr.Lovegood is going to keep an eye on the house and Charlie said that anything else we need he'll have ready for us." Arthur explained, laying a reassuring hand on his wife's arm.

She looked up. He saw her visibly relax, letting her hand slip off the locked door, that she'd checked 3 times already. He let himself smile; it was all going to be OK. He was overcome by sudden youthful energy and he kissed his lovely Mollywobbles, swinging her in to his arms. She laughed at him.

"What has come over you, dear?" She said with a bite of impatience, but she patted her hair in a flustered way. Allowing herself a smile as she collected their bags together.

"Can we go now?" Ginny added moodily, Arthur looked over at her. She was becoming a teenager already. That was just another worry, she'd be beating away the boys at Hogwarts!

"Yes, my poppet. Don't look so grumpy. We're going on holiday, to see Charlie. It's going to be wonderful." He grinned at her, knowing that she was missing her other brothers, especially Ron. And perhaps thinking of another boy than her brothers. He spun her round in his arms, making her giggle, like he always used to do when she was small.

"Arthur stop messing about." Molly called. Stepping towards the portkey, a new adventure awaited the diminished looking Weasley family. But Arthur was sure that it was just what they needed.

And it seemed just minutes ago that they were standing in the same spot. But two weeks had passed, and Arthur was leading the way back to the burrow, holding Molly's hand firmly and supporting a sleepy Ginny.

Molly let them into the house and after a quick but filling supper, of all the odds and ends Molly found in the cupboards, Ginny went off to bed. She kissed her father goodnight. He looked into her eyes as she gave him a rare hug, and he understood exactly how she was feeling. She was happy to have had such a lovely Christmas with Charlie, but also disappointed to be leaving him and now be yet again on her own.

Once Ginny had gone, Arthur turned to his wife. Who had that familiar look, just like Ginny, she was missing her boys.

"I love them all so much, you know." She said wearily, sitting in front of the empty fireplace.

"I know." And he did. He really believed her, there were so many of them to care for and to pay for, but Molly had such a big heart, so much love to give. It was one of the reasons why he still adored her so much. She had even taken pity on the young Harry Potter, when Ron had told her he wasn't going to get any presents.

He sat down next to her, and took her hand in his. It had been a magical holiday, just what they needed, he had been right. Molly had let herself forget the strains of money on the family. Charlie had benefited hugely from his parents influence, and all that money he was earning he was dealing with in much better ways.

The worries of the boys, the stress of having them away from home, dealing with Fred and George's wrongdoings, the strain of money and watching their only daughter grow away from them had all seemed too much. Now, they could deal with it, as long as they had each other.

"I know I don't say this often, but I really do love you Molly. I don't know what I'd do without you." He smiled, taking her off to bed.

"I know, dear."

A/N – Hello! I hope you enjoyed that. I'm back helping Laura with the Arthur chapters, so I may be a bit rusty but please review. Thanks

Love Lorna (miss.mermaid-ofthelake). xxxxxxx


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